A47 Wansford to Sutton dualling Project update autumn 2020 Read about our latest design
Investing in the A47
The A47 is an important connection linking the cities of Norwich and Peterborough, the towns of Wisbech, Kings Lynn, Dereham, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft and a succession of villages in what is largely a rural area.
As part of a multi-billion investment to improve journeys on England’s major A-roads and motorways, the Government is funding a package of six projects on the 115-mile stretch of the A47 between Peterborough and Great Yarmouth. Together, the proposals will relieve congestion and improve the reliability of journey times for drivers.
The projects include converting almost eight miles of single carriageway to dual carriageway and improving key junctions along the A47 road.
The other A47 road improvement projects are: A47 Thickthorn junction A47/A141 Guyhirn junction A47 North Tuddenham to Easton dualling A47 Blofield to North Burlingham dualling A47 Great Yarmouth junction
Why are the Wansford to Sutton improvements needed?
The Wansford to Sutton section of the A47 is approximately 1.6 miles long, located to the west of Peterborough between the existing junction with the A1 and the Nene Way roundabout near Sutton.
Whilst around half of the A47 is already built to dual carriageway standard, the Wansford to Sutton section is not. This section of the A47 acts as a bottleneck, and this causes congestion, resulting in longer and unreliable journey times. In addition, this section of the A47 has a poor safety record.
Our proposed changes will help to relieve congestion, reduce journey times, support economic growth and make the road better for motorists. Project benefits
By delivering these improvements to the junction, we aim to:
improve road safety for all road users, ensuring the road design meets modern standards for a major A-road
shorten journey times, make journey times more reliable, and provide capacity for a rise in future traffic
contribute to sustainable economic growth
help the road to better cope with incidents such as collisions, breakdowns, road maintenance and extreme weather
ensure the proposals consider the local communities
provide a safer route between communities for walking, cycling and horse riding How you’ve been involved What’s happened since the statutory consultation? In early 2017, we held a public consultation on three potential route options to gain your feedback and to help shape our plan to improve the Since the consultation in 2018, we have analysed all the responses and Wansford to Sutton stretch of the A47 at an early stage. These were: engaged with key stakeholders to fully understand the feedback received. As a result, we are now proposing changes to the design, including an Option 1 Dualling the existing A47 alternative northern route at the eastern end between Sutton Heath Road and the A47/Nene junction. Building a new dual carriageway partly to the north and partly Option 2 to the south of existing A47 We have compared our latest proposed design against the 2018 design and have considered environmental and economic factors, as well as the Option 3 Building a new dual carriageway to the north of the existing A47 complexity of the scheme construction, and traffic levels. You can read about the comparisons in the Scheme Design Development Report on the project webpage at www.highwaysengland.co.uk/A47-wansford-sutton Over 170 people attended the four days of public events and we received 170 responses to the consultation. Around 86% supported the need to improve this section of the A47 and agreed that our proposals would be beneficial in reducing congestion and improving journey times. A number of responses to the Statutory Consultation suggested that a road to the north of the existing A47 would be preferred. As a result of Having reviewed the feedback following the consultation, and following that feedback, we have considered that further assessments, Option 2 was announced as the preferred route in August 2017. However, a road entirely north of the existing A47 is not feasible due to the location of the Scheduled Monument at Sacrewell Farm. We then developed our design further to reduce the impact on the River Scheduled Monuments are nationally important archaeological sites Nene and its flood plain. or historic buildings and are given protection by Historic England from unauthorised changes to legally protect them from damage and A Statutory Consultation was held between September and November 2018 destruction. We are also aware of a Neolithic barrow and a Roman where the public and other consultees were asked for their views on the farmstead that could be in the area. project proposals. We received over 680 responses to this consultation. For more information on the project and consultations, visit our webpage at Therefore, a route north of the existing A47 at the eastern end of the www.highwaysengland.co.uk/A47-wansford-sutton scheme between Sutton Heath Road and the A47/Nene junction has been developed. This means that the new A47 would avoid Ancient Woodland and would also have less ecological impact. Our proposed design
Our proposal is for a new stretch of dual carriageway which largely follows Improvements at the Eastern Wansford roundabout: the existing A47 at the Wansford end, crossing to the north and running enlarged roundabout parallel to the existing A47 after the Scheduled Monument. new lane to the south of the roundabout, providing access to the filling station and to Sacrewell Farm under the new A47 There will also be a dedicated slip road from the A1 southbound to the A47 eastbound to alleviate congestion at the junction. The latest proposed design also includes the following changes to the existing A47 and surrounding roads: The existing single carriageway for westbound traffic across the A1 bridge removal of the bus stop and the direct road access to the A1 from the at Wansford will be kept the same. properties adjacent to Windgate Way due to the close proximity to the proposed southbound A1-A47 slip road There will be a new southern arm coming from the eastern Wansford the Sutton Drift will be closed to vehicles roundabout for the filling station and access to Sacrewell Farm. a new walking and cycling route will pass under the A47 at the existing The Nene roundabout will be relocated further to the west, close to the Sutton Heath junction current Sutton Heath Road junction. a straight link road will be formed from the relocated A47 Sutton The village of Upton will now access the A47 via Sutton Heath Road, joining roundabout, linking into the existing Sutton Heath Road at its junction at the new roundabout. with Langley Bush Road a new junction will be created to allow access to Heath House. The existing A47 will be kept for local access to Sutton village. Upton Road will no longer be directly accessed from the A47 new passing places will be discussed with the local authority The revised proposals that we intend to submit for planning approval include alterations to the roundabouts at Wansford. Additional design refinements may be made ahead of our planning
application as a result of further engagement with key stakeholders, Improvements at the Western Wansford roundabout: for example closing the Peterborough Road access onto the A1 improved entry from the A1 northbound slip road northbound is being considered. improved exit to the A47 eastbound new left turn lane between A1 northbound slip road and the A47 eastbound, rather than a merged lane new cycle crossing on the A47 west of the Wansford roundabouts, removing cycles from the A1 bridge Watercourse Tree Preservation Order On-Road Cycle Route Sutton Wood Site of Special Scientific Interest Bridleway Balancing pond New improved carriageway Access to Great North Road houses Country Wildlife Site New improved verge
S Shared cycle / footpath main route u t t o n Shared cycle / footpath / bridleway H e a t h
R o a Thornhaugh d Access closed to vehicles Sacrewell Farm and Upton Country Centre G r Existing bridge to be retained e a t
N
o r Passing places on Upton Drift t h d a R o (to be con rmed) o R h a s A d u B y le g Link road to n Free flow link road a Sacrewell Farm L New link road from A1 to A47 Scheduled monument Separate left hand lane off A1 to take traffic to A47 East. Existing westbound link to be kept as single lane.
New roundabout location Filling station
A47 Dual carriageway north of existing A47 Wansford O ld L New underpass Access closed e A47 i c A d ne e R Ne s h er te g iv r u R o R or d rb te Pe Enlarged roundabout New walking and R cycling route i v e Rd r ll e N rw A47 a e Y n Dual carriageway e
T Closure of access to h e
A1 being considered D r i f Walking and cycling underpass t Nene Way
G r ea t E No lt r o th Existing Nene Way roundabout n R o R ad to be relocated d Stibbington Sutton A A DIAGRAMMATIC Crown copyright and database rights 2020 OS 10003064 About Development Consent Orders
This scheme is classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project under the Planning Act 2008. This means that we are required to make an application for a Development Consent Order to obtain permission to construct the road. The application will be made to the Planning Inspectorate who will examine the application, including holding some hearings in public. The Planning Inspector then makes a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Transport who will decide on whether the project will go ahead. We intend to submit our application in mid 2021 and if approved, we expect the road to be open for traffic in autumn 2024.
More information about the Development Consent Order process can be found on the planning Inspectorate’s website at: www.infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk Next steps
Timeline Options Development Construction
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Statutory Construction Option Option Preliminary Construction procedures commissioning Close out identi cation selection design and powers preparation and handover
Examination Statutory by Planning public Inspectorate consultation and October 2018 decision by Non-statutory consultation Road March 2017 Secretary of State opened
Targeted consultation/ project update October 2020 Project Preferred route Application Planned start Close out initiated announcement for development of works August 2017 consent mid 2021 If you need help accessing this or any other HighwaysIf you need England help information,accessing this or any other Highways England information, please call 0300 123 5000 and we will help you.please call 0300 123 5000 and we will help you.
Contact us
If you need help accessing this or any other Highways England information, please call 0300 123 5000 or email: [email protected] and we will help you.
If you would like to contact us in respect of the Scheme comments should be sent to the following:
By post: A47 WANSFORD TO SUTTON, Highways England, Woodlands, Manton Lane, Bedford MK41 7LW
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